The resignation of Phil Shucet as VDOT Commissioner, announced today, has to count as disappointing news. He was a breath of fresh air in the Virginia bureaucracy.
Our gubernatorial candidates ought to be asked things like, “Who in Gov. Warner’s cabinet would you like to see stay on?”
Since he was hired at the end of a half-year national search, Shucet has avoided partisan entanglements and has won respect and praise from Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly.
Warner said he felt Shucet may have stayed longer if Virginia were not the only state in the nation not to allow governors to serve successive terms.
“Part of the struggle is to get people to stay on to the end of your term,” the governor said.
If Shucet had bi-partisan support, Warner’s would-be successors should have mentioned it. Shucet said he resigned for personal reasons; it would be a shame if he resigned, as Warner hints, because he didn’t think the next governor would keep him in place.